It's difficult to make a post like this without seeming corny or overdramatic but here it goes:

I've been here since 2002. I've had great conversations on this forum about the Devils and hockey in general. I've really enjoyed it. It's been a source of amusement in my life.

Unfortunately I've made the personal decision to stop being a Devils fan and instead become a Sharks fan. Basically I now live in the Bay Area and want to settle down there for the forseeable future. I haven't lived in the NJ area for almost 5 years now and I want to root for the "home team." I think it's more rewarding and even though I've been a devout Devils fan for years, it's harder being away. Also I think Sports are a useful way to attach yourself to the community at large, and I want to make the leap.

I don't want to be a sports bigamist (although I'll always have a soft spot for the Devils) and this offseason seems like the right time to force myself to convert, since the Devils look better than the Sharks for the first time in years I don't feel overly guilty, and a lockout is on the horizon.

I don't want to stop visiting this site (this isn't goodbye) since I enjoy it so much, but the fact is I will no longer be "one of you" and I imagine I will not be as involved/interested in the site as I one was. I figured a post like this was appropriate even though verbalizing all of this seems kind of silly. Still I want to come clean as I post here into the future.

More power to ya. A lot of people give grief to anyone who changes sports allegiance, but really, it's your call. Switching to the new home team is as noble a reason as there is.

Myself, I've been a Jersey boy my whole life up until these last two years. Now I'm a reluctant Marylander. My hockey loyalty will always belong to the Devils, and being a Steelers fan, there's no way I can ever bring myself to ever root for the Ravens. But as a Yankees fan, I'm confusedly finding myself developing a soft spot for the Orioles. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's because Camden Yards is so much fun to go to. Maybe it helps that the Orioles are ... well ... the Orioles, and never in my lifetime have really been a rival or a threat to my Yankees despite being in the same division. Maybe it's a desire to latch onto something local. Given that I'm only two years in and it took you five years to officially switch from Devils to Sharks, I guess we'll have to see what baseball cap I'm wearing in three years haha.

Anyway, sorry for the me-me-me tangent. Hopefully we'll see you continue to kick around these parts despite your newfound fandom. Best of luck to your Sharks (except when they're playing Jersey, of course )

Yeah, wholeshark, if you wanna kick yerself in the nuts, that's yer binis. Enjoy yer new hometeam. You're right, you switched well & at a good time. Just don't celebrate TOO loudly when the Devils bring the cup home to Jersey several times to become the Dynasty of the 10's decade!!

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Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is!Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!

Myself, I've been a Jersey boy my whole life up until these last two years. Now I'm a reluctant Marylander.

If I were even on the east coast I think I could keep being a fan...but games start at 4 PM here most nights. The team comes here what, once every two years also? There's no bad blood either with the Sharks so it's not too hard to switch. Also I'm not rooting for a team that's completely incompetent like Columbus so it's not too hard.

I've basically become a fan of the other bay area teams in all sports but the NFL. Mostly becuase I don't really care about those other sports, but I can't abandon the Jets and Rex Ryan just yet.

Just don't celebrate TOO loudly when the Devils bring the cup home to Jersey several times to become the Dynasty of the 10's decade!!

Yeah if the Devils go back and win the cup next year I'm gonna feel like an idiot, but I imagine I would still be proud of the team and all that. I'll try to avoid being a bandwagon jumper, but it may prove difficult. Also if the Sharks win the cup this year I probably won't really fully appreciate it since it's been a 5+ year journey basically for them but oh well...

I have a tough time understanding how someone can do this. Believe me, I know it takes guts to make the switch and then announce it to a board full of hotheads. But I can never, ever see myself cheering for another team.

This is comical. I live in South Jersey where the Flyers are the "home town" team. The Devils get no coverage here and I have to order Center Ice to get their games. South Jersey may as well be Fairbanks, Alaska when it comes to the NJ Devils.

You'll never make it as a Sharks fan sir just cu ya want to...I don't believe in being able to forcefully being able to switch allegiances after being a die hard. If it happens, it will be naturally over time.

I moved from NYC to South Jersey at the age of 7 and I have never ever come close to rooting for the Flyers. You would figure it would be easier to naturally change teams at such a young age but nope.

Given the two are in different conferences, I don't see why you can't root for both? Hear me out before the flaming starts. I have ALWAYS been a home team first sort of person with the exception of the Dodgers, but I was raised in a household of old Brooklyn Dodgers fans, so even that is partly true. Anyway, while I've always pulled for the home team--even in sports where I couldnt give a rats ass, like basketball--I've also liked rooting for underdogs myself. So back in the '80s I rooted for our Devils, but always had a soft spot for the Red Wings. Cant imagine the Red Wings as THAT bad? They were every bit as bad as the early Devs.

In football I am a consummate Jets fan, but I've rooted for the Lions for years.... They've been bad since G-d gave Moses the tablets at Sinai after all.... I think they had a couple good seasons before that tho.

Anyway, while I personally would never change my team unless they up and left (if I'd been alive when the Dodgers left I think I wouldn't be a fan today) I can't begrudge you, but that doesn't mean you still can't make the Devils your number two team. More people have second favorite teams than you might think, even if the die hards aren't willing to admit it because of some loyalty issue.

Oh, and don't kick yourself if the Devils womp on the Sharks in the Stanley Cup somewhere down the road. You'll have only yourself to blame. Unless you've taken my advice. Then your loyalties will tear you in two like an old rag doll. It is a classic lose-lose scenario; the price of trying to abandon New jersey and the Devils! Bwahahahaha...... Just kidding.

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Aaron / AEWHistory --- Rockies/Devils fan since 1981!

Trenton Makes and the World Takes..... Or.... Trenton Uses What the World Refuses

Given the two are in different conferences, I don't see why you can't root for both?

Oh, and don't kick yourself if the Devils womp on the Sharks in the Stanley Cup somewhere down the road. You'll have only yourself to blame. Unless you've taken my advice. Then your loyalties will tear you in two like an old rag doll. It is a classic lose-lose scenario; the price of trying to abandon New jersey and the Devils! Bwahahahaha...... Just kidding.

Yeah I will take on the Devils as my "Eastern Conference Team" but basically I want to follow one team. I just think it's more fun to have a single team. Spreading your love around just dilutes it. I'll be happy for the Devils if they succeed in the future for sure, that imprinting on my brain will never go away.

It's difficult to make a post like this without seeming corny or overdramatic but here it goes:

I've been here since 2002. I've had great conversations on this forum about the Devils and hockey in general. I've really enjoyed it. It's been a source of amusement in my life.

Unfortunately I've made the personal decision to stop being a Devils fan and instead become a Sharks fan. Basically I now live in the Bay Area and want to settle down there for the forseeable future. I haven't lived in the NJ area for almost 5 years now and I want to root for the "home team." I think it's more rewarding and even though I've been a devout Devils fan for years, it's harder being away. Also I think Sports are a useful way to attach yourself to the community at large, and I want to make the leap.

I don't want to be a sports bigamist (although I'll always have a soft spot for the Devils) and this offseason seems like the right time to force myself to convert, since the Devils look better than the Sharks for the first time in years I don't feel overly guilty, and a lockout is on the horizon.

I don't want to stop visiting this site (this isn't goodbye) since I enjoy it so much, but the fact is I will no longer be "one of you" and I imagine I will not be as involved/interested in the site as I one was. I figured a post like this was appropriate even though verbalizing all of this seems kind of silly. Still I want to come clean as I post here into the future.

Remember, it's not you, it's me.

HSAHM

(And yes I realize it's rather fitting given the user name I chose)

Late to the party

My girlfriend hails from San Jose, so I find myself rooting for them (when they arent playing NJ, of course). Best of luck to ya